


Memento

by Karasuno Volleygays (ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor)



Series: Valentine's Kisses 2018 [8]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Amicable Exes, Future Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-10 22:22:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16463486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor/pseuds/Karasuno%20Volleygays
Summary: It's been years since they last saw each other, since they were together, but those old feelings drag their way to the surface the moment Issei sees Shinji at the grocery store by pure chance.





	Memento

Issei can’t believe it’s really him. It’s been more than three years since he had graduated from Aobajousai High School and left the last vestiges of his adolescence behind him. Opting out of college, he had instead gone straight to work at a factory on the outskirts of Sendai. The work is hard and Issei knows he won’t be physically able to do it forever, but the pay is good.

He never expects to bump into his high school boyfriend at the grocery store, but even cities as large as Sendai manage to make themselves small here and there.

Shinji is taller than he remembers, having put on perhaps another five centimeters since they had broken things off in anticipation of Issei’s graduation. The roundness in his cheeks has faded away somewhat, but to Issei’s pleasure not entirely. He can remember spending a lot of time dragging his fingers over those soft cheeks as they whiled away a lot of their precious free hours kissing and touching and _feeling_.

The odd couple, everyone had called them. Aside from the obvious difference in height, Issei was quiet and contemplative while Shinji was vivacious and outgoing. Issei dwelled on problem solving while Shinji strived to find the good in everything. Yet it had worked; _they_ had worked.

Next to the noodle cooler, Shinji looks up and meets Issei’s gaze, his soft brown eyes lighting in recognition and then his cheeks pinkening in pleasure. Rushing across the store, Shinji is grinning when he breathes, “Issei.”

Issei quirks a crooked smile and hums, “Hey, Shinji.”

“I can’t believe it’s really you!” Shinji hikes his shopping basket over his forearm and leans his other side into Issei. “I saw someone I thought looked like you, but I figured I was just seeing you, you know —” He gives a wry little half-shrug. “— you know, because I wanted it to be you.”

Now it’s Issei’s turn to blush.

They meander through the store together, finishing their shopping while filling one another in on the minutia of their new realities as adults. Shinji is a full time college student home for summer break, and he has two long, gloriously free weeks before he has to plunge himself back into the academic deep end that is law school.

They finish their purchases and leave the store together, and Issei pauses mid-stride and mid-sentence as he complains about his job. “You know what, you want to get coffee?”

Coffee is purchased and more stories are exchanged, along with gossip about their former teammates and friends. Their cups sit long-drained, and only the thought of the produce in his shopping bag wilting in the languid summer heat makes Issei sigh and stand. “I should probably get home.”

Shinji casts his own groceries a passing glance and nods. “Yeah, same here.”

In unison, they slide the bags onto their shoulders and reach for their empty cups. It’s an awkward dance they do as they dispose of their waste and then head for the exit, but they find themselves standing together outside once more.

Issei holds up his hand and shields his eyes from the sun as he gazes down the street. “You still living with your parents?”

“Yes.” Shinji raises a brow. “Why?”

That almost-smile threatening to betray itself yet again, Issei says, “Because I’d really like to walk you home.”

Shinji beams at him and hooks their arms together at the elbows. “That would be nice.”

The walk to Shinji’s house, which is en route to Issei’s residence anyway, is about fifteen minutes, but it passes wordlessly. It’s uncharacteristic to someone as nervous about taut silences as Shinji, but Issei enjoys just being near for the first time in years.

They arrive at the perfectly cultivated pathway leading to Shinji’s front door, lined with meticulous rows of flowers flanking either side of tightly arranged stepping stones. It’s exactly how Issei remembers it. He hasn’t seen it since that last day spent with Shinji, having altered his route going farther into town to avoid the Watari residence and all the memories he’ll never get to make.

But he’s happy to be here now, Shinji’s presence a soothing balm over an old wound that has long scabbed over.

Issei sets his shopping bag down on the sidewalk and turns to Shinji. “So, um, if you feel up to it, can I take you to dinner while you’re home for a while?”

“Is that a good idea?” Shinji asks, but his fingers tighten on the strap of his own bag, which Issei knows he’s containing himself.

“No strings, no expectations,” Issei says. “Just a couple of old friends.”

Shinji drops his bag and throws his arms around Issei. “I’d really like that.” He raises his chin, which now comes barely under Issei’s, and their mouths brush together like no time had passed.

Issei crushes Shinji closer until they’re both out of breath, and they linger in a loose embrace until Shinji sighs and leans down to retrieve his bag. “I’ll see you soon, Issei,” he promises. “I’m really happy we ran into each other.”

“So am I.” Issei hears his own voice crack with emotion as he backs away, almost forgetting his own groceries as he seeks to put distance between himself and the person he had never been quite ready to let go of.


End file.
